This book depicts new paradigms in Hispanic linguistic, literary and cultural studies. Part I: Literary and Cultural Studies includes eight essays focusing on a new trend of cultural representation attempting to find new meaning(s). They explore a series of reflections on some of those moments – from the period that begins with the cry for independence in 1810 and that spans beyond 2010 – textually translated as new approaches of analysis on the “recollections of things to come.” The contexts examined evince critical occurrences related to periods of change toward democracy and social justice that eventually lead to “revolutionary” or “emancipating” ends, by way of artistic, textual manifestations. Part II: Linguistic and Cultural Studies contains nine articles representative of the most current, ground breaking research on Hispanic linguistics. It focuses on important linguistic and cultural issues pertaining, geographically, to various corners of the Hispanic world, spanning from central Florida and New York City, to Bolivia, and on to the Prince Islands in Turkey. The issues explored include the sociolinguistic and cultural identity of Puerto Ricans in the United States, the pragmatics of humor in Mexican film, the effects of language evolution on modern Spanish, and the acquisition of Spanish by English speakers.

This volume addresses some lacunae in Hispanic linguistic research by focusing on new scholarly directions, exploring understudied topics as well as speech communities, and presenting new takes on relevant linguistic and sociocultural issues. This publication answers questions which have emerged as a result of the rapid increase in Hispanic linguistic research since the latter part of the twentieth century or that have remained open in spite of it. With the rapid growth of Hispanic Linguistics during the 21st century, the topics included in this volume are representative of the breadth, vitality, and interdisciplinarity of contemporary linguistic scholarship. They also reflect that linguistics, in general, has become more methodologically sophisticated. This book is comprised of twelve chapters divided into three parts. Part I addresses language ideology and language contact issues that are embedded in important sociolinguistic and cultural topics chronologically spanning from the 16th century to the present. Although these issues take place in Spain, the United States, Turkey and Ecuador, they pertain ideologically to all corners of the Hispanic World and beyond. Part II is devoted to pragmatics and language variation with topics that transport us to Colombia, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela. The study of politeness strategies shows how Spanish speakers reduce social distance between interlocutors as they make conversation a pleasant and cooperative meeting place. Concurrently, sociolinguistic innovations reveal interesting parallels among several speech communities. Part III explores linguistic variation as it relates to theoretical, structural, and instructional issues. Although these topics are analyzed based mainly on linguistic usage in Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, and Spain – as with the rest of this volume – their relevance reaches far beyond the confines of the Hispanic World. This book is unique in multiple ways and complements a number of existing publications.

Portuguese-Spanish Interfaces captures the diversity of encounters that these languages have known and explores their relevance for current linguistic theories. The book focuses on dimensions along which Portuguese and Spanish can be fruitfully compared and highlights the theoretical value of exploring points of interaction between closely related varieties. It is unprecedented in its scope and unique in bringing together leading experts in a systematic study of similarities and differences between both languages. The authors explore the common boundaries of these languages within current theoretical frameworks, in an effort to combine scholarship that analyzes Portuguese and Spanish from multiple subfields of linguistics. The volume compares structures from both synchronic and diachronic points of view, addressing a range of issues pertaining to variability, acquisition, contact, and the formation of new languages. While it provides an up-to-date resource for scholars in the field, it can also be a useful companion for advanced students.

Judeo-Spanish and the Making of a Community brings together scholars and activists from around the world, all of whom have participated in and presented original research at the annual ucLADINO Judeo-Spanish Symposia. This collection addresses a number of linguistic, historical, and cultural matters pertinent to the Sephardim in different lands from the fifteenth century to the present day. Essays in this volume reveal how Sephardim from various parts of the world – Turkey, the Balkans, Morocco, and the United States – culturally and linguistically position themselves among each other, among other Jews, and among their non-Jewish co-regionalists. Contributors explore how the rich history of the Sephardim has allowed for the development, maintenance, endangerment, and even revitalization of the Judeo-Spanish language(s).

Open Borders to a Revolution is a collective enterprise studying the immediate and long-lasting effects of the Mexican Revolution in the United States in such spheres as diplomacy, politics, and intellectual thought. It marks both the bicentennial of Latin America’s independence from Spain and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, an anniversary with significant relevance for American history. The Smithsonian partnered with several institutions and organized a series of cultural events, among them an academic symposium whose program was envisioned and developed by the editors of this volume: “Creating an Archetype: The Influence of the Mexican Revolution in the United States.” The symposium gathered scholars who engaged in conversation and debate on several aspects of U.S.-Mexico relations, including the Mexican-American experience. This volume consolidates the results of those intellectual exchanges, adding new voices, and providing a wide-ranging exploration of the Mexican Revolution.

How do children develop bilingual competence? Do bilingual children develop language in the same way as monolinguals? Set in the context of findings on language development, this book examines the acquisition of English and Spanish by two brothers in the first six years of their lives. Based on in-depth and meticulous analyses of naturalistic data, it explores how the systems of both languages affect each other as the children develop, and how different levels of exposure to each language influence the nature of acquisition. The author demonstrates that the children's grammars and lexicons follow a developmental path similar to that of monolinguals, but that cross-linguistic interactions affecting lexical, semantic and discourse-pragmatic aspects arise in Spanish when exposure to it diminishes around the age of four. The first of its kind, this original study is a must-read for students and researchers in bilingualism, child development, language acquisition and language contact.

This handbook is unique in its focus on bilingual theories, issues on the teaching of bilinguals, bilingual policies abroad, and current research on bilinguals as all of this related in some way to the Spanish-speaking world. There is currently no other book like it available, despite the growing number of courses teaching Spanish Bilingualism. It is anticipated that this new handbook will be of great interest to linguists, sociolinguists, language acquisitionists, as well as teachers who deal with topics relating to bilingualism as it relates to Spanish speakers around the world. Though work has been done looking at bilingualism and multilingualism, this book provides a valuable addition that deals with an area where a comprehensive work such as this is indeed lacking.